Tag Archives: faded glory

I wore this outfit a few weeks ago out with friends to eat sushi, followed by hanging out in a bookstore for hours. (Can we do this like, every weekend, please?)

I have mixed feelings about this dress. I love the stripes, the colors, but the way the sleeves are made – meant to have an oversized tee feeling – makes your shoulders seem broader than they really are, to me. But it’s comfortable, and has definitely been a great thing to have post-having baby to easily throw on.

I had intentions of getting outdoor pictures of this outfit since it’s been a LONG time since I’ve had outfit pictures outside of my house on this blog, but alas, we’ve had rain since this morning.

I saw another pregnant lady wearing this style, and I thought it was great. Wear a skirt or dress and tie your pre-belly tees at empire waist level. Gives you a way to continue wearing them throughout even the later months of pregnancy.

I’m still figuring out how to put together outfits as this pregnancy progresses, but though it feels a little rocky at points, I think I’m getting there. Trying to figure out ways to wear as much as I can from my normal wardrobe, while buying mostly maternity items that will also work after the baby is born.

Yay for loose, flowy/too-big blouses I already had in my wardrobe from before pregnancy! I love wearing fitted tops while pregnant, but this type of blouse gives a different look option. And it’s also pretty comfortable.

I’ve worn basically this outfit, this blouse and these shorts, a couple times now.

Still loving these shorts – I’ve mentioned before that maternity shorts tend to be looser at the cuff, and I also just like the length. And I always like the look of shorter shorts with longer, looser blouses.

Look at that bump. The past few weeks, baby has had a major growth spurt, and I officially feel like I look pregnant; I mean I’ve felt that way for a while now, but I feel like now I’m at the point of, “There is no doubt she’s pregnant no matter what she wears.” kinda thing. Like before, it was like, yes my belly is bigger, but now I look like a full-blown pregnant lady.

A quick confession of sorts – I originally wore this outfit a few weeks ago, when the belly was a bit smaller, but didn’t have time to get pictures then. I’m getting pictures now because it’s a type of outfit that I should be able to recreate with various pieces throughout my pregnancy. Basically a skirt with the waist positioned as an empire waist; above the belly, with a tank top or shirt underneath.

Other than that, I was really pleasantly surprised with how the color combinations of this particular outfit wound up; the colors in the floral skirt seem to make the light green of the shirt pop, and all the colors compliment each other really well.

Long, gathered skirts, it’s no surprise, work really well over a growing belly, as they give room and length, and so can be worn even as weeks progress and the belly gets bigger and bigger. And it’s a plus that it allows me to be able to wear a skirt, and probably some shirts, that I already had before being pregnant.

The weather has been pretty hot here most days, with blocks of heavy thunderstorms in between. Hope the weather has been kind wherever you are!

I started this dress two autumns ago, back in 2013. I halted the project after a bit because, well, it was getting warmer, anyway, and I also couldn’t find the right buttons – while I love mix-in-match buttons, I knew I wanted these to all be the same. This winter I decided I wanted to finish the dress, and once the right buttons were here, all that was left were the straps.

This dress was actually my first go at pleats. I think they look great, but the main thing I learned was that the stitches of the pleat “fold” don’t need to go all the way behind the pleat; they do on this dress and it makes for a lot of fabric that’s a bit heavy. The straps work fine, though, and the dress still looks okay overall. Waiting so long, in fact, probably aided in this working out so well despite the heavier skirt – just over this summer I discovered a better way to do wide straps that are strong and are less prone to stretching.

I put together this outfit just to show it off for you on the blog, but I really, really like it (there’s maybe a little wishful thinking for warmer weather with the choice of bare legs and tennis shoes). Now I just need somewhere to wear it to before it gets too warm.

All in all this turned out just as I’d pictured in my head, and I could definitely see myself refining the pattern and making it again.

Dress: made by me
Thermal: Faded Glory
Shoes: Faded Glory
Necklaces: old, belonged to my mom and grandmother; I believe they may be Sarah Coventry

Just a quick post today about an outfit that’s become a favorite. I recently got this shirt and discovered I really like it combined with this vest I’ve had for years. The striped socks add a bit of quirkiness that I like. All in all this is a pretty true-to-me outfit, and I love the way the shades of purple and pink work together.

Another note, I really love this shirt.

Welp, I’m off to spend time with friends on this rainy day. Hope you and yours are having a beautiful and safe day as well. It’s supposed to get icy around here.

I started this skirt MONTHS ago, probably at least last summer, stopped working on it for a while (not because I was frustrated with it or anything like that, I was just working on other things), then picked it up and finished it just before Christmas. I’m really pleased with it.

It’s honestly a really easy item to just throw on and mix and match with winter layers, and I think it’ll be great in spring and summer, too. I made it to fit high waisted (a personal favorite waist height), but the elastic is strong enough that it can be worn closer to the hips, too. It’s also just really comfortable.

In reality, the overall time for making this skirt is probably less than a week, working a few hours a day, especially after getting the pleat forming down, even though it took me longer – Honestly, I had been working on it pretty leisurely, while my husband and some friends played tabletop, then I joined them, so I put the skirt away to focus on learning what I was doing. That’s why it got pushed aside for so long.

All in all, one of my favorite projects I’ve written and made; it works up well and also looks okay when worn.

In case you didn’t know, it got cold this weekend. I’m not ready for fall to be over yet, but at least I got to wear some of my crochet things out, along with this lovely sweater dress my old Sunday school teacher got me several years ago.

This one. He’s a mix, but has a lot of the Siamese personality – very doglike; loyal and likes to be near you, likes to sleep on your face. He stood outside the door meowing until I let him in, then once he discovered the tripod and camera, proceeded to start playing, attacking and biting them. In an attempt to get him to stop and with the thought, “Hey, cat pictures are always cute,” I picked him up. What you’re seeing here is him lovingly kneading my face, purring all the while. All this crochet and knitwear on me and he wants to knead my face. Oh, well. Haha.

I’ve had these boots for several years and they’ve held up well through me wearing them almost constantly the past few fall/winters. The paint splatters and spots are from when my husband and I painted our house last summer.

By the way, I’ve started a little crochet shop here. You can find the hat and scarf I’m wearing there, as well as some other cold weather crochet goodies.

(Sidenote: With the color+texture of this hat+wearing it not completely pulled down+this angle doesn’t it look a bit like I’m wearing a thimble? haha :P)

Though I actually like the look with the tennis shoes, I’d probably have worn this with my boots if they weren’t in need of repairs (the sole of one has come loose and needs to be reglued). But it’s still a fine look; a bit eighties with the socks and tennis shoes.

This shirt was again given by to me by a friend after a closet clean-out. I’m kind of in love with it, and I’ll probably be wearing it a lot this fall. I love that it’s a flannel, but with lots of nice details that make it more unique – the shirring at the sides, the sleeves, the length.